Chinese Billionaires Exploit US Surrogacy for Many Children, Sparking Ethics Debate

• Ultra-wealthy Chinese businessmen are using US surrogacy to have unusually large numbers of American-born children, raising ethical and legal questions.
• A Los Angeles judge rejected Chinese entrepreneur Xu Bo's request for parentage of multiple children after he stated he wanted around 20 US-born children for his business.
• The practice exploits a legal gap where commercial surrogacy is illegal in China but permitted in some US states, like California.
• The cost of US surrogacy can reach $200,000 per child, making it accessible only to the very wealthy.
• The automatic US citizenship for children born on American soil is politically sensitive, leading to proposed legislation to restrict access for nationals of certain countries.

Why It Matters: Wealthy Chinese using US surrogacy strains ethics, law, and birthright citizenship.